Central Asia news

The international statistical committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) released a report on average salaries in each of the former Soviet republics in the first five months of 2008. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were found to have the lowest salaries with, respectively, 137 and 63 US dollars earned monthly, the reports states.

Russia tops the list with an average monthly salary of 718 US dollars, while oil-rich Kazakhstan is second with 485 US dollars. Notably, the data on Uzbekistan, a country with the largest population in Central Asia, is missing because this country is refusing to publish its own statistics.

The only information available is from President Islam Karimov, who mentioned in a February meeting with the cabinet of ministers that the average salary in Uzbekistan is 210 US dollars.

However, independent observers say the average salary is much less than 210 dollars, especially in rural areas. The minimum wage in Uzbekistan was set in September 2007 at 18,5 and 36 US dollars, depending on the worker’s age.

The CIS statistical report also mentioned that gaps in salaries between capital cities and rural areas in the former USSR republic is widening. Only in Armenia are living standards and salaries in the capital and outer regions relatively the same, the report states.